Victoria Country Club acted up in ways that messed with all of the golfers, and Ross - who had carded two days under par and for a short time looked like he could get a third - was no exception.

"Sometimes your good shots don't look too good, and in this game, you have to play your foul balls,"

Ross spend two and a half rounds of golf building a lead that would be, for the most part, insurmountable. Then spent the last nine giving much of it away.

"I'm grateful I didn't have to play any more holes," "I was leaking oil on the way in."

Still, the longtime pro from Bramwell, W. Va., walked away with the championship at the Texas Senior Open as one of only two golfers in the field of 74 to finish the tournament under par. Ross completed the tournament at 3-under; David Ogrin, who finished with at 1-under after shooting 3-under on Friday, was the only other golfer under par.

Ross was aware of who he was up against, but that didn't matter much. After last week, he was just happy to be in warmer weather.

"After being home shoveling show last week, I didn't know if my game was going to be rusty or not," he said. "I'm just thankful to be in 85 degree weather, and with some good players this week."

Just a week ago, the pro golfer spent two days with his family without power digging out from the snow produced by Superstorm Sandy.

The day started off strong for Ross. He watched his competition wilt on the front nine while he shot 2-under to build what was a six stroke lead with nine holes to go. Then the course and the conditions caught up to him.

"Some of these big oak trees are planted in just the right spot where they grab your ball," Ross said. "Throw in some 20 mph winds and it's hard to pull the right club."

His one saving grace was that it also caught up to most of his closest competitors.

Yes, Ross shot 5-over on the back nine to erase much of his advantage for the day, but Ben Sauls, who was second place entering Friday, shot 3-over on the back nine to fall back. Jim Chancey, who was 2-under entering the day, finished even par with a 4-over on Friday.

"I've played a lot of golf in my career, in Florida on the PGA tour and the Champions tour in Texas, and I feel I'm a good wind player," Ross said. "Even today, I felt good about how I was playing, and then had one four-putt on the back and missed a few greens in the wrong spot."

In the face of all that was going wrong, Ross said he kept faith, and most of all, kept calm.

It may not have been a banner day, but it was definitely a winning one.

"All things said, even though I stumbled, I made it across the finish line," he said.